The Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst loss of the season, falling to the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cowboys were down by double digits to a team that couldn’t stop making mistakes. It was a highly depressing outcome for a team that just can’t string together wins.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from this ugly loss on Thursday Night Football:
Winners and losers from Cowboys' awful loss to the Bucs
Winner: Malachi Lawrence, EDGE
There aren't many winners for the Cowboys or the fans in Week 5. In fact, no one really played well. The only defender who had a decent game was Malachi Lawrence, who made several plays, including knocking down a pass at the line of scrimmage that helped keep Dallas in the game in the third quarter. Outside of that, it was a night to forget for everyone else.
Loser: Christian Parker, DC
It wasn’t right to panic after three games. But over the last two weeks, Parker has shown that he isn’t the right man for the job.
Jalon Daniels looked like a first-round pick, and he converted multiple long third downs, including a back-breaking 3rd-and-21 to Emeka Egbuka. The defense did not force a turnover once again and they were gashed on the ground all game long.
The defense is somehow worse with Parker as the defensive coordinator this year despite a bunch of investments on this side of the ball. The Cowboys will be patient here, but he has done nothing to show that he can be even an average defensive coordinator in the NFL.
Loser: KaVontae Turpin, KR
The Cowboys are paying Turpin as one of the top kick returners in the league, and he has not delivered on that deal. Not only has he not broken off any long returns, but his fumble in the third quarter was the backbreaker that made it feel like the game had been lost.
At the time, Dallas was down 21-10 but still had time to make a comeback. But after the turnover, the game was essentially over. Those are the kind of mistakes you can’t make if you are a returner in the NFL.
Loser: Jake Ferguson, TE
The Cowboys paid Jake Ferguson to be a receiving tight end. But his involvement in the offense has been minimal this season and it’s hard to blame them. Ferguson dropped a key pass right before halftime that would have put the ball inside the 20-yard-line. Instead, the Cowboys were forced to settle for a field goal and that felt like a big moment.
But the big moment came on the final drive of the game. Dak Prescott threw a laser to Ferguson, and not only did he drop it, but it popped up in the air and was intercepted by the Buccaneers.
Ferguson is a bad blocker and doesn’t offer much after the catch anymore at this stage of his career. So if he is going to drop passes, it really doesn’t make sense to keep him on the field.
Loser: Brian Schottenheimer, HC
Schottenheimer said that his team looked “tired” early in the week, and they sure played like. There was no energy, and everyone looked like they were sleepwalking through the game.
Good coaches thrive on short weeks, and the bad ones get exposed. And I think we found our answer to whether or not Schottenheimer is a good or bad coach this week.
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